Quickleaf
Legend
If no one else is going to guess... (I still think Matthan should do it) ... I'll send you a quick PM.
Inspiration for you too!
[video=youtube;uMQLP9k_oF4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMQLP9k_oF4[/video]
[5e] Spell & Crossbones
- Thread starter Quickleaf
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Inspiration for you too!
[video=youtube;uMQLP9k_oF4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMQLP9k_oF4[/video]
tuxgeo
Adventurer
Right. Removing "Recovery" from the list of Bonds. Also removing "Mending" from potential list of cantrips, to let Old Zef cover that business.
It looks as though the ship duty of First Mate might be appropriate: not too highly ranked, still learning some of the complexities of operating a ship without being a total newbie at it.
As for the connections, I thought I listed three potential Bonds to La Gloriosa, with the "Recovery" one now removed, leaving two. The Vengeance/Justice would have been the same as Bond #3 in the first post, to wit: "Vengeance or Justice." However, that would have required the character to be a citizen of Cartagena -- or else of a nationality such as French, so his family could have been (unfairly?) accused of helping Baron de Pointis raid the city, and whose names might possibly be cleared by finding that secret ledger of bucaneers who collaborated with Baron de Pointis, which ledger might or might not exist and might or might not have gone down with La Gloriosa.
-- Unfortunately, the other potential Bond to the adventure that I listed was one I simply made up: Redemption of reputation due to having failed to find La Gloriosa once before. We can remove that one from the list too if it doesn't fit the setting. (I know Finding the White Whale was approved for Nia, though it's not on the official list. . . .)
(My having mentioned Capt. Jacques Cassard was a reference to a potential Ill Fortune of "Enemy," not to a Bond to the adventure.)
But if that's not a good enough Bond, then I might have to go with the generic Bond #10, "Gold, Glory, and Adventure.".
As for connections to other PCs in the party are concerned, I think I would need to get buy-in from the respective players of the other PCs in order to establish any such connections. Here are the ideas I have along those lines right now:
A connection to Old Zef would be easy if they have a mutual friend, or if they both served under Blackheart. (Hmm. Blackheart was Spanish. That might be difficult to arrange if my guy is English -- which he doesn't need to be.)
-- or maybe Blackheart sank enough English ships, and mercifully saved (or took as galley slaves) enough floating survivors of those sinkings that this guy met Old Zef then. I'm open to suggestions.
-- or maybe Blackheart didn't always sink the ships immediately: maybe he first incapacitated them and boarded them, taking the crew as prisoners or replacement crew, and looted the ships before sinking them. . . .
A connection to Katarina would be harder due to her having grown up to adulthood so recently: my guy would have had to be very close to her family, or her childhood, to have known her except by reputation. (However, a connection to Old Zef might substitute for that.)
Since Etienne is new to the area, I don't see much there: he's just arrived in the Caribbean (?), so we would have to work something out. Or -- check that. Etienne has Contacts among the natives. Is my guy a native, or a half-breed living among them? (I think this may depend on whether other connections can be defined.)
A connection to Blaise? Maybe this guy got rather intensely interviewed by Blaise about having crewed on a ship that ran slaves, before this guy gave that work up as a bad job? (Maybe the reason he gave up crewing for such voyages?)
A connection to Nia? I would need a lot of help on that one, since she's apparently arrived in the Antilles very recently, so their paths might not have crossed before. (I doubt this character is "The White Whale.") Or else my guy needs some connection to Voodoo or Loa or Druidry, so they have something in common? (Not the Druidic language, unless it can come from the "extra language" available from the setting.) (?)
It looks as though the ship duty of First Mate might be appropriate: not too highly ranked, still learning some of the complexities of operating a ship without being a total newbie at it.
As for the connections, I thought I listed three potential Bonds to La Gloriosa, with the "Recovery" one now removed, leaving two. The Vengeance/Justice would have been the same as Bond #3 in the first post, to wit: "Vengeance or Justice." However, that would have required the character to be a citizen of Cartagena -- or else of a nationality such as French, so his family could have been (unfairly?) accused of helping Baron de Pointis raid the city, and whose names might possibly be cleared by finding that secret ledger of bucaneers who collaborated with Baron de Pointis, which ledger might or might not exist and might or might not have gone down with La Gloriosa.
-- Unfortunately, the other potential Bond to the adventure that I listed was one I simply made up: Redemption of reputation due to having failed to find La Gloriosa once before. We can remove that one from the list too if it doesn't fit the setting. (I know Finding the White Whale was approved for Nia, though it's not on the official list. . . .)
(My having mentioned Capt. Jacques Cassard was a reference to a potential Ill Fortune of "Enemy," not to a Bond to the adventure.)
But if that's not a good enough Bond, then I might have to go with the generic Bond #10, "Gold, Glory, and Adventure.".
As for connections to other PCs in the party are concerned, I think I would need to get buy-in from the respective players of the other PCs in order to establish any such connections. Here are the ideas I have along those lines right now:
A connection to Old Zef would be easy if they have a mutual friend, or if they both served under Blackheart. (Hmm. Blackheart was Spanish. That might be difficult to arrange if my guy is English -- which he doesn't need to be.)
-- or maybe Blackheart sank enough English ships, and mercifully saved (or took as galley slaves) enough floating survivors of those sinkings that this guy met Old Zef then. I'm open to suggestions.
-- or maybe Blackheart didn't always sink the ships immediately: maybe he first incapacitated them and boarded them, taking the crew as prisoners or replacement crew, and looted the ships before sinking them. . . .
A connection to Katarina would be harder due to her having grown up to adulthood so recently: my guy would have had to be very close to her family, or her childhood, to have known her except by reputation. (However, a connection to Old Zef might substitute for that.)
Since Etienne is new to the area, I don't see much there: he's just arrived in the Caribbean (?), so we would have to work something out. Or -- check that. Etienne has Contacts among the natives. Is my guy a native, or a half-breed living among them? (I think this may depend on whether other connections can be defined.)
A connection to Blaise? Maybe this guy got rather intensely interviewed by Blaise about having crewed on a ship that ran slaves, before this guy gave that work up as a bad job? (Maybe the reason he gave up crewing for such voyages?)
A connection to Nia? I would need a lot of help on that one, since she's apparently arrived in the Antilles very recently, so their paths might not have crossed before. (I doubt this character is "The White Whale.") Or else my guy needs some connection to Voodoo or Loa or Druidry, so they have something in common? (Not the Druidic language, unless it can come from the "extra language" available from the setting.) (?)
The list of hooks to the Gloriosa is not intended to be exhaustive, as Nia's example shows. It's a starting point, to give some ideas.
Quickleaf has been really open to ideas and suggestions that aren't on that list.
As for connections to Nia...she's traveled pretty extensively. There's plenty of room for her and your character to have met before. You're definitely not her white whale though. Quickleaf has plans for the Smiley Face.
As for Voodoun, it's quite possible we're just different varieties of practitioner. Nia's background is that of an islander, their relationship to the loa is almost shamanistic in some ways. She's mixed in other traditions as she traveled and learned, but that's her roots. Your sorcery could be more European in origins, with a different tradition and relationship even though the entities you work through are the same.
Or you may wield an entirely different form of magic. Not everything has to be spirits and witchery. You'd want to work with Quickleaf about what that would be.
Quickleaf has been really open to ideas and suggestions that aren't on that list.
As for connections to Nia...she's traveled pretty extensively. There's plenty of room for her and your character to have met before. You're definitely not her white whale though. Quickleaf has plans for the Smiley Face.
As for Voodoun, it's quite possible we're just different varieties of practitioner. Nia's background is that of an islander, their relationship to the loa is almost shamanistic in some ways. She's mixed in other traditions as she traveled and learned, but that's her roots. Your sorcery could be more European in origins, with a different tradition and relationship even though the entities you work through are the same.
Or you may wield an entirely different form of magic. Not everything has to be spirits and witchery. You'd want to work with Quickleaf about what that would be.
Queenie
Queen of Everything
While Blackheart is Spanish, I don't think he would have cared what your nationality was, as long as you proved your worth on his crew. Katerina was born and grew up on that ship, so if you served on it in the last 22 years you'd know her in some way. Zef was with Blackheart much longer than that.
I don't know how old you are looking to play?
Blackheart's ship did have a Ship Mage previously, the last one was Katerina's love, and the father to her child.
I think "Ship Mage" could really be it's own role, but First Mate works too.
Etienne (is he still around?) wants to be Quartermaster. That's cool OOG, in game, Kat wants that voted on by the crew... I think she thinks that is important to crew morale.
I don't know how old you are looking to play?
Blackheart's ship did have a Ship Mage previously, the last one was Katerina's love, and the father to her child.
I think "Ship Mage" could really be it's own role, but First Mate works too.
Etienne (is he still around?) wants to be Quartermaster. That's cool OOG, in game, Kat wants that voted on by the crew... I think she thinks that is important to crew morale.
Queenie
Queen of Everything
Inspiration for you too!
[video=youtube;uMQLP9k_oF4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMQLP9k_oF4[/video]
I am soooooo Inspired!!!!!!!
tuxgeo
Adventurer
Thank you for the reassurance. I'll have to get a firmer handle on what Bond or connection to La Gloriosa would be useful here. I don't believe I've found the right Bond yet, and that prevents me from deciding about the other factors.
Extensive travel allows a lot of latitude for meetings! I'll take that as provisional assent, and try to work it in.As for connections to Nia...she's traveled pretty extensively. There's plenty of room for her and your character to have met before. You're definitely not her white whale though. Quickleaf has plans for the Smiley Face.
I believe the default explanation of sorcery according to the books is that the magic is in the sorcerer's blood, and not working through spirits; but that can be reskinned easily.
Given that Nia is a Druid, would it be possible that this new PC met Nia once or twice at regional Druidical gatherings? (Does she go to such things?) If that might work, I could have this new PC take the Magic Initiate (Druid) feat at 1st level, and maybe take the Druidic language as the campaign bonus language -- of course, only if Quickleaf agrees that that would work. (Maybe Nia is one of the ones who trained him? That would depend on relative ages, though. . . .) Maybe Nia could have observed some of this character's training, or at least was present while it was going on; or maybe they traded bits and bobs of shell and feathers and thread for the making of Druidical totems somewhere -- if that's not too out of character for her. (Re: totems: is it hard to get mistletoe in the Caribbean?)
tuxgeo
Adventurer
Decades younger than I am, naturally. How many decades? Two decades younger would still put this guy at half-a-century old.
And Blackheart didn't keelhaul him? He must have had a good, long relationship with Blackheart to survive that. (Or maybe not.) For now, I'm going to hope not all of those 22 years were spent at sea, and there was some sporadic shore leave involved during which paths might have crossed.
Yeah, some or many positions should be agreed upon by the crew -- especially the crew's representative.
As for me, I'm going to try to finalize a good Bond or connection to the setting by sometime tomorrow, and see whether that clears up my thoughts. (This "Vengeance or Justice" Bond has me going in circles about having the right nationality to be interested in it. Maybe the "Life Debt" to Javier Hernandez would be better; but that would require making up a suitable incident (most likely at sea) wherein the Spanish Captain rescued my character. Third party under assault by pirates, but Hernandez's ship came along and drove the pirates away? A big coincidence there; but it might work.)
My sense is that the setting of Spell & Crossbones doesn't draw the hard line between 'class magic' that the system does.
That is to say, a wizard and a druid or cleric can all be 'voodoo priests.' They'd cast the spells appropriate to their class and have the magical abilities that their classes provide...but in terms of the flavor text, they'd all be voodoo priests. Just different kinds of voodoo priests.
That said, it also means two druids could have radically different sources for their magic. One could be voodoun, and the other could be a tribal shaman, or an English naturalist who's 'magic' is actually quasi-scientific. Would Richard Attenborough be a druid? In this setting, maybe!
With sorcerers, the power is assumed to come from 'within' them...but there are many reasons that could be the case. You could go with the mystical bloodline...though that doesn't have to mean a dragon or magical creature. Think of the stories of 'magic families,' who's sons and daughters carry magic down the line. Or you could have been blessed, or cursed (!) with strange magical powers after encountering an unearthly being. You could be possessed by a loa, who uses your body to channel its powers through.
So even sticking to the class concept of 'power from within' that defines sorcery, there is a LOT of room for variation.
If you wanted to connect with Nia, I can think of a couple of good ways.
The first...Nia has been hunting cultists for a great deal of her time off of her island; most of her adult life. This is a dangerous line of work, so allies would often be needed. If your character had a beef with a cult, or a particular cultist, then it's possible you and Nia found each other on the same side of that conflict.
The second could be your magic. Though Nia's reputation as a 'sea witch' is to some extent exaggerated by herself here in Nassau, it's not entirely false. If your character's powers arise from some eldritch source such as a brush with some creature or spell, or a curse or blessing, and you sought assistance or knowledge of it, Nia could have been someone you found.
I'm open to other ideas of course! If you've got something in mind let me know and we'll work it out.
That is to say, a wizard and a druid or cleric can all be 'voodoo priests.' They'd cast the spells appropriate to their class and have the magical abilities that their classes provide...but in terms of the flavor text, they'd all be voodoo priests. Just different kinds of voodoo priests.
That said, it also means two druids could have radically different sources for their magic. One could be voodoun, and the other could be a tribal shaman, or an English naturalist who's 'magic' is actually quasi-scientific. Would Richard Attenborough be a druid? In this setting, maybe!
With sorcerers, the power is assumed to come from 'within' them...but there are many reasons that could be the case. You could go with the mystical bloodline...though that doesn't have to mean a dragon or magical creature. Think of the stories of 'magic families,' who's sons and daughters carry magic down the line. Or you could have been blessed, or cursed (!) with strange magical powers after encountering an unearthly being. You could be possessed by a loa, who uses your body to channel its powers through.
So even sticking to the class concept of 'power from within' that defines sorcery, there is a LOT of room for variation.
If you wanted to connect with Nia, I can think of a couple of good ways.
The first...Nia has been hunting cultists for a great deal of her time off of her island; most of her adult life. This is a dangerous line of work, so allies would often be needed. If your character had a beef with a cult, or a particular cultist, then it's possible you and Nia found each other on the same side of that conflict.
The second could be your magic. Though Nia's reputation as a 'sea witch' is to some extent exaggerated by herself here in Nassau, it's not entirely false. If your character's powers arise from some eldritch source such as a brush with some creature or spell, or a curse or blessing, and you sought assistance or knowledge of it, Nia could have been someone you found.
I'm open to other ideas of course! If you've got something in mind let me know and we'll work it out.
Quickleaf
Legend
Haha, I always wince when I hear that question because it makes me think: Oh god, they're trying to squeeze every hour out of every game day. We'll be lucky if we can get through a week of game time in several years of real world time!
It's about an hour after sunset. 7:30ish maybe.
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